Survival
by garbygal
Summary: Division has been attacked and everyone is forced out on the run. Is everyone going to survive? Can they find out who is responsible and bring them back down while rebuilding Division?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Huffing as they drove away, they were still completely in shock. Although this had always been a possibility, no one had wanted to believe it would actually happen. Yet, on a typical Tuesday afternoon, exactly what they had all imagined in their worst nightmares actually came true. Nikita brushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "How are they?" she looked across at Michael.

"We need to get these two to safety-" Michael gestured to the two unconscious members of their party, thrown into the backseat of the SUV. "They aren't going to survive if we don't give them the medical attention they need."

Nikita nervously looked around. They had to get a plan- and soon.

*FLASHBACK*

It was 9:00 AM and Birkhoff sauntered into Operations where Ryan, Nikita, and Michael were talking. It was unusual for them to meet out in the open, but it was probably their attempt to be more visible for the recruits after everything they had been through. "Wow!" Nikita greeted Birkhoff with cheer, "It's not very often you grace us with your presence this early."

"Ha ha." Birkhoff sarcastically replied, scrunching his face in reply.

"I told him Lucy would be here early." Alex sauntered in behind him.

"Oh!" Nikita and Michael laughed as Birkhoff turned bright red.

Lucy was a young girl in Division, one of the last recruits before the program was stopped with the upheaval between Amanda and Percy. Since Birkhoff was then on the run with Nikita, he had never met Lucy. That had changed a week ago when Alex had brought her to work on a project with Birkhoff and he had immediately been smitten. Everyone was waiting for Birkhoff to balls up and ask her out. Meanwhile everyone was having a good time teasing him.

Without a word, Birkhoff sat at his station and started working. Alex and eventually Sean joined Nikita and the others in their conversation. Slowly the recruits and workers came in until Division was running at normal strength. When Lucy came in, she walked past Birkhoff's station, quietly greeting him, "Hey Birkhoff."

"Hi." Birkhoff didn't even look up.

"How can such a genius be so dumb?" Michael asked the group. "It is obvious she likes him, but she's too shy to do anything.

"Why should he make the move?" Nikita asked. "She's as smart as or smarter than he is. She should be able to overcome her shyness."

"We should have them compete." Alex laughed, "An IQ test."

Everyone smiled at the comment. "Lucy's IQ is 192. We already know that." Ryan reported. "Her IQ test is in the file- one of the reasons that she was brought here."

Michael let out a low whistle. "Amazing." He replied, "Remind me never to get in an argument with her."

"Maybe that's just it." Alex pointed out, "She could be playing hard to get."

Everyone watched Lucy to see if she gave off any hints. After a few minutes without even looking up, Lucy asked, "Can I help you guys with something?"

They all blushed and turned back to their conversation as Nikita commented, "Definitely not shy."

Everyone laughed. After a few seconds they were interrupted by a blaring alarm. "What the hell is that?" Michael shouted, making a quick turn into Birkhoff's direction.

"I don't know!" Birkhoff panicked in reply. "A security alarm, but I can't tell what alarm is going off. Something's messed up in the system."

Suddenly the lights flickered and turned off. Before they could process it, gun fire ripped through Operations. It was a complete panic- screaming filled the room and no one could see anything. The automatic gunfire continued to spray the room, destroying everything in its path. Everyone had dived to the floor, but it was so dark that no one could tell if anyone had been hit.

As quickly as the gun fire had started, it stopped. Michael, who had dived for the floor like everyone else, started to crawl along the floor towards a back-up generator switch. When his hand hit something wet he panicked- he couldn't see it but it could only be one of two things- spilled liquid from something that got shot or blood from someone who'd been shot. His heart pounded as he worried about Nikita and the rest of his friends. When he got to the access panel, luckily he knew Division like the back of his hand, he flipped the switch. Nothing happened, and he groaned.

A loud boom in the distance caused the scream to continue. Michael's heart continued to pound, knowing that all of Division was sitting ducks unless they got some light to get everyone out of there. He felt around the panel to make sure he was at the right one, his fingers grazing over buttons and the displays. Once he had confirmed his hand was in the right place, he pushed the switch again. This time the auxiliary power kicked in offering a small, albeit needed bit of light.

As Michael turned around his stomach dropped. Operations looked like the war zones he frequently saw in the Middle East. Division agents were strewn everywhere, blood covering the walls, the equipment and the floor. As his chest tightened, he searched the room frantically for Nikita. He finally spotted her and let out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding when he realized that she was okay. Another boom in the distance alerted him that they needed to get out of Division and now. "Listen up everyone!" he calmly but loudly announced, "We have to get out of here. Division seems to be under bomb attack. Please check the people around you. If they're alive," Michael swallowed hard knowing many of them weren't, "Help them out. If they're not- help the living first. If there are extra people we can start taking bodies to bury them properly."

Everyone frantically began to check pulses and injuries. Michael headed over to Nikita, Alex and Sean. Sean had a wound in his upper left arm, Alex in her leg, and Nikita was somehow unharmed. Sean and Alex started to head for the exit, knowing it would take longer for them to get out both being wounded and they couldn't help anyone with their wounds. As Michael surveyed Operations for the damage, another bomb crashed in the background, definitely getting closer. Michael sounded an evacuation alarm for the recruits that weren't in Operations when he noticed a sneaker peeking out from Birkhoff's work station. His heart dropped as he recognized the sneakers. "Birkhoff!" he nervously shouted, immediately heading for him.

Michael dived to his knees next to Birkhoff. "Birkhoff!" he lifted up the tech's head, "Birkhoff do you hear me?"

The tech was out cold. Michael quickly surveyed his body, spotting a bullet hole in his back and another in his stomach. Both of them looked deadly serious. Michael cheeked for a pulse, placing two fingers under Birkhoff's chin on his neck. He let out a huge sigh realizing that the tech was still alive- for now. Quickly placing a couple of pressure dressings on Birkhoff's wounds trying to stop the bleeding, Michael anxiously lifted Birkhoff up. When Michael looked up, he realized that Nikita was heading towards him with Lucy. She had been hit in the chest and lower back, but somehow was still semi-conscious as Nikita brought her towards Michael. Another bomb went off in the distance- but not as far away as the previous ones. "Michael, we have to get out of here!" Nikita protested.

"I know!" he anxiously replied.

He picked up Birkhoff as best he could, the tech's limp arm dangling under him. As they walked through Division towards the entrance, Michael heard gunfire. "Nikita, this way!" he directed her down a side passage.

"Michael, where are we going?" Nikita asked as they ran along.

Running down the side hallway, Michael didn't immediately answer. "Michael!" Nikita protested, trying to get his attention.

"The auxiliary garage." Michael finally explained. "I heard gun fire at the main entrance. I think they're shooting at people as they are trying to escape."

Nikita's eyes bulged wide. There weren't too many things that frightened or startled her, but the idea of the innocent Division agents heading out to the slaughter was a shock. "Amanda?"

Michael immediately knew what Nikita was asking- did he think Amanda was to blame. "It's a possibility. Then she would know all our exits. At least this way we have some leeway in a bulletproof SUV."

At that moment both of them were grateful for Birkhoff's latest project. The tech had been working on one of the SUVs to test make it bulletproof. If it went well, they would expand it to all their vehicles. They had rightfully been weary of the possibility of attack, which is why Birkhoff had been working on it in the first place.

When they got to the garage- an auxiliary one for the main people- Ryan, Alex, Nikita, Sean, Michael and Birkhoff, one that use to be Percy and Amanda's, they found the SUV gassed up and ready to go. Michael opened the backdoor and carefully dumped Birkhoff in. As Nikita got Lucy in, Michael located a couple of medical packs and threw them into the back. Another loud boom and the room violently shook, almost dropping Michael to his knees. "We've got to get out of here!" Nikita shouted.

Michael sprinted back to the SUV, wishing they had more time to grab some supplies. HE slammed the door shut as another blast went off nearby, causing chunks to start falling from the ceiling. As soon as the garage door was opened high enough, Michael punched the gas to get them out of there. Luckily no one from the attack had blocked this entrance and they were able to cleanly get away to regroup. Their breaths were coming quickly in the panic they had just lived through.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Sean pulled the SUV up to the apartment building, climbing out and waiting for Alex to come around. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Nodding, Alex replied, "Somehow they missed me, other than that graze on my leg."

"Wish I had been so lucky." Sean held up his arm, showing her the blood oozing from it. "Luckily this wasn't too bad."

Alex and Sean headed into the building. This apartment had been hidden and was used for a safety apartment, Alex asked, "Do you think Nikita and everyone else got out?"

Sitting down on the couch, Sean nodded, "It's Nikita. I am sure. It's just a matter of finding where they escaped to."

Alex propped up Sean's arm to start to fix the wound. "Through-and-through." She reported. "Shouldn't be too bad."

"What the hell happened?" Sean asked Alex.

"Amanda." Alex just starred at Sean. "What else would it be?"

"How could Amanda pull this off? She wouldn't have enough people." Sean tried to make sense of everything.

"Apparently she does." Alex replied, "This is ridiculous. Why is she so obsessed? Why won't she just leave us alone?"

"She has a one-track mind." Sean winced as Alex cleaned out his wound with alcohol. "She wants to destroy Nikita at all costs. Even if she has to kill every other innocent person first."

"Do you think her and Michael are together?" Alex asked as she bandaged up Sean's wound with gauze.

"I have no doubt they wouldn't leave without each other." Sean replied.

"What about Birkhoff?"

"He's a smart man." Sean answered. "I am sure he found a safe way out."

Nikita finished bandaging up Birkhoff wounds. Birkhoff was still out cold, the IV dripping into his arm. Pulling the blanket up to his chest, Nikita didn't hear Michael at the door. "I got Lucy set up in the other room."

"How is she doing?" Michael asked.

"A little better than Birkhoff." Nikita replied, "She was conscious, he wasn't."

"I just hope he'll be alright. The bullet in his back wasn't too bad but the one in his stomach and some damage on its way through." Michael explained, checking the flow of the morphine.

"Yeah. Her wounds were barely in there. Didn't do a whole lot to her. She was mainly in shock and blood loss is why she's out I think." Nikita explained.

"Do you have any way to contact Alex or Sean? See if they are okay?"

Nikita shook her head. "We don't have any phones- mine was in Division. I have things we could try, emergency things we discussed putting in place, but nothing that we agreed on."

"Great." Michael grimaced. "That ought to make things interesting."

"Come on." Nikita gestured for Michael to follow her to the living room so they could sit down.

Michael sat on the couch and Nikita sat beside him, Michael putting his arm around her shoulders. "Now what?" Michael asked.

"I don't know." Nikita replied, "Everything is gone. So many people died that were innocent."

"I know." Michael replied, trying to comfort her. "We can't do anything about it now. Except try to avenge their deaths."

"And save who we can." Nikita responded looking towards the bedrooms where Birkhoff and Lucy were hopefully recovering.

"I can't believe this happened. It's like a bad nightmare." Michael looked around their new hide out.

The farmhouse they had driven to was a house that was not under Division records but somewhere Nikita had acquired to hide out if she needed. This way they knew if whomever had bombed Division had Division's records, they still wouldn't be provided this address. Luckily it had been well stocked in case Nikita had to use it. That provided them with the supplies to patch Birkhoff and Lucy up. "So what is our first step?" Nikita asked.

"First step is going to be trying to finding Alex and Sean. If we have to do anything- research, spying, attacking, we need to be full strength or at least get Alex and Sean back." Michael suggested.

Nikita thought back to the discussions Alex and her had trying to account for anything that may happen. One thing we had talked about was leaving a note for each other duct taped under a bench in a specific park."

Michael grinned. "Well, that would be a plan, but both of us can't go and neither of us can go alone for safety. One of us has to stay here to monitor Birkhoff and Lucy."

Nikita nodded in agreement. "Alex may need a couple of days to get set up anyway."

"True." Michael agreed. "We'll play it by ear."

Alex may not even remember that conversation." Nikita replied, "It may be for naught anyway."

"I doubt that." Michael replied. "Alex is a smart woman. I'll bet she is thinking about it right now."

"Hello?" a sudden, frightened female voice pierced through the silence.

Michael and Nikita looked at each other, then walked towards the bedroom where Lucy was set up. As they got to the room Lucy was sitting up in the bed, about to try to stand up. "Whoa sailor!" Nikita ran over and guided Lucy back into bed, "You were shot. You should take it easy."

Lucy cautiously looked over her wound in her chest, running her hand over the one on her back. "How's Birkhoff?"

Michael and Nikita gunned back and forth. They had been right about her interest in the nerd.

"Not good." Michael replied. "He had a shot in the back that was into a lung. The other shot was in his stomach. The bullets did a bunch of damage. I repaired what I could, but I'm not a professional surgeon."

"Can I see him?" Lucy asked.

Nikita and Michael looked at each other, unsure. "How are you feeling?" Nikita asked her.

"Alright." Lucy replied, "Not great, but not too bad."

"If you take it easy and tell us if you start feeling worse." Michael insisted.

"It's a deal." Lucy started to sit up, Michael and Nikita moving quickly to help her.

"And only if you let us help you." Nikita added.

Michael and Nikita slowly helped Lucy up and got her to the bedroom next door. Birkhoff still laid there unconscious, the IV dripping slowly into his arm. Lucy slid carefully into a chair next to Birkhoff's bed. "I should have told him how I felt." Lucy gently reached over and ran her fingers through Birkhoff's hair.

"How long have you liked him?" Nikita smiled to her.

"Ever since I met him." Lucy smiled in reply. "He's always been nice to me. Beyond all the crabby exterior people usually see, he was always nice. He's so smart."

"That he is." Nikita smiled.

"I hope he recovers." Lucy looked at the tech, still motionless in the bed.

"So do we." Michael replied, "So do we."

It was only a few hours later when everyone was finally getting use to their new arrangements and had begun to relax. They moved Lucy in with Birkhoff, each on their own twin bed so Lucy could keep an eye on Birkhoff in case he suddenly crashed. Michael and Nikita were in the living room, curled up on the couch watching TV. It wasn't something they got to do very often while involved with Division. "So what's on your mind?" Michael finally asked, sensing something was on Nikita's mind.

"I'm excited that we have the time, but torn because everything we know is gone. Amanda is out going wild and lots of people we know are dead."

"Yeah." Michael's heart felt heavy when he remembered all the other agents who were probably killed. Sure they didn't exactly know anything yet. With the surviving agents scattered in the wind, they may never fully know who had lived and who had died. Eventually they would have to go back to Division to figure out if any of it had survived. "I'm glad we got out of there."

"I hope Birkhoff is gonna be okay." Nikita curled up closer to Michael.

"Birkhoff is very stubborn. He won't give up on life easily. He just has a lot of recovery to go through."

Satisfied with his answer, Nikita curled up against him and they watched TV for a while. There was no talking, no discussion, no plotting, just watching TV like a normal couple It was a couple TV episodes later when Nikita suddenly asked, "Do you think we are safe?"

Michael glanced at her. "What do you mean?" he was confused how she meant it.

"Do you think we are safe now with Division all but destroyed, or do you think Amanda will continue to hunt us when she doesn't find us among the dead?"

Michael thought about it, not really liking the answer. "I think she'll come after us. I don't know she will rest until she's dead or we're all dead."

"When Nerd is better we are going to have to find her before she finds us." Nikita agreed to his fears.

"Maybe one day it will all be over." Michael allowed himself to dream.

"I hope so, but I don't know it will be." Nikita continued her stubborn streak. "It seems like there is always another battle, always another enemy, always another fight."

"At some point we may have to say enough is enough- we may just have to retire."

"I wonder if that is ever going to be a choice." Nikita rubbed the bridge of her nose in stress.

"Someday. We can dream." Michael replied.

"Michael, Nikita! Something is wrong!" Lucy's voice cut through the quietness.

Looking at each other, both got up and ran for the bedroom.


End file.
